Charlie Ball, deputy research director at HECSU, said: "The figures show that even in difficult times, graduates can and do get jobs."

The What Do Graduates Do study, which questioned nearly 250,000 graduates, revealed that while work is to be found around the UK, jobs are not equally spread; in 2011, 21% of UK graduates were working in the capital, while just 3.8% were in the north-east.

Around 11% had jobs in the north-west, 7.5% in Yorkshire and the Humber, 6.1% in the east Midlands, 7.7% in the west Midlands, 7.2% in the east of England, 12.5% in the south-east and 7.5% in the south-west.

It also revealed that 4.7% were working in Wales, 7.8% in Scotland and 3% in Northern Ireland.